Page 33 of Claiming Becca

“Hello?” she answers on the first ring.

“Hey. I’m about to go in for this date. Can you be on standby if I need you?” I ask her.

She’s quiet for a few seconds before answering. “Yes, of course. How did Connor take it?”

“He was fine. Just told me how to be safe and send him a nine-one-one text if I need an escape.” I tell her. “I don’t think he’s going to react like Lincoln did when Ansley went on a date.” My voice cracks, and I hate it.

“Bec—”

“I’m okay,” I interrupt her. “I can’t keep doing this. I think maybe I’ll move back home too. He’s getting around okay. I don’t think he needs me anymore.” His guys are still there, but I can work around that.

I pace back and forth in front of the restaurant. I don’t want to go in there. I don’t want to go on another date with another guy that isn’t Connor.

“I thought he was renovating your house,” she says.

I suck in a breath and try to ignore the pain in my heart. “He is. They started this past week. It’ll take a few weeks, maybe more. I’m also supposed to decorate his house, but this is hard, Bailey.” I can’t cry, not before my date.

“Should I tell Julian to talk to him?” she asks.

“No!” I exclaim. “The last thing I need is for Julian to talk to him and it be confirmed he doesn’t have feelings for me.”

“Bec, I don’t believe for a second he doesn’t have feelings for you. For whatever reason, he’s having a hard time expressing them,” Bailey tells me. I wish I had as much confidence in this as she does.

“Maybe. I’m going to go in now. Keep your phone on you,” I repeat.

“Okay,” she whispers. “If you need to talk about anything, let me know.”

“I will,” I promise her. We hang up, and I take a deep breath before entering the restaurant. I’ve never been on a date before, not an official one. I’ve often gone out with Connor, but it was never a date. It was just friends hanging out. The hostess greets me when I walk in.

“I’m meeting someone here. His name is Scott,” I tell her.

“Yes, he’s here. I’ll take you to him” She leads the way, and I follow her. He’s on his phone when we reach the table and doesn’t look up. The hostess looks at me with a raised eyebrow. I take a deep breath.

“Scott?” I ask. His head pops up as he breaks out into a grin. He places his phone face down on the table and stands to greet me.

“Bec?” he replies. I nod.

He motions to the chair across from him. “Go ahead and sit down.”

I sit and open my mouth to say something. I’m unsure what I want to say, but before anything comes out, he picks up his phone and scrolls again. Snapping my mouth shut, I stare at him. He’s handsome in a pretty boy way, kind of like Lincoln. He’s got dark brown hair, and I think his eyes are brown, but I didn’t get a good look before they were glued to his phone. Picking the menu up, I begin to scan it. I know what I want, but it’s keeping me occupied.

After several minutes of silence, I finally speak up. “So, what are you going to order?”

He lifts his head slowly, his eyes focusing on mine. “Huh?” His eyes widen as he remembers I’m still here. He puts his phone down, glancing at the menu. “Oh, I’m not going to eat. I ate before I came.”

My mouth pops open. “You ate before you came?” I repeat slowly. He smiles wide, nodding. I glance around. Am I being punked? Why the hell would he do that? “You already ate?” I ask again. He nods, pulling his phone out again.

I’ve had it and have only been here for fifteen minutes. Slamming my menu on the table in frustration, several things happen simultaneously. My menu hits the basket of chips in front of me. The basket slides into the water Scott already had, causing it to fall over and dump all over his cell phone and him. He jumps up, which causes his chair to fall back into the person behind him.

“What the hell?” he shouts. He shakes his phone, glaring at me. I run my hand down my face. This can not be happening. People all around us are staring. The server is across the restaurant, but she’s headed this way now. “Aren’t you going to do anything?” He questions. I tilt my head at him in confusion. What does he want me to do? “You ruined my phone!” he exclaims.

I go to push back so I can stand and leave. I feel like I’m in the twilight zone. When I try to push back, I hit something. Glancing over my shoulder, Connor is standing there. My mouth pops open. What the hell is he doing here?

“Is there a problem?” he asks. Scott looks between him, me, and the server that just walked up.

“Yes! She knocked my water, and it got all over my phone and me.” He shakes his phone again. “My phone is probably ruined.”

“Do you have a relationship with your phone or something?” Connor asks. Scott’s face scrunches up. I giggle, feeling relieved Connor is here.

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